Settling Down w/ Timothy Braun

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A Conduit For Travel, Structure, and Love

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About The Episode

Timothy Braun used to be a playwright who traveled around from city to city, taking residencies and fellowships where he could find them. At one point, a little over a decade ago, he moved to Austin, Texas. Once there, it didn’t take long for him to meet Dusty, who would become his new dog.

After rescuing Dusty from a shelter, Tim quickly formed a close bond with his canine counterpart. He had been worried at first about being able to afford to keep Dusty, and how it would impact his life, but his doubts were soon out of his mind. It was a friendship he didn’t realize he had needed (he hadn’t even been looking for a dog).

After writing a piece for The New York Times’ well-known Modern Love column about Dusty around seven years ago, he got some good feedback and it gave him motivation to go on the road to hear more stories from people around the country. He brought Dusty along to see the country, and a cute dog (Dusty is half australian shepard, half siberian husky) turned out to be a pretty good icebreaker for their interactions with strangers, too.

But while they visited about half the states in the country, Dusty also slowly but surely led Tim down the path of establishing roots in Austin. They developed a daily routine, and Tim became more grounded. No matter what was going on in his professional or personal life, Dusty was a constant that always remained the same no matter what. He helped Tim balance his priorities, notice things he took for granted, stay on top of his health, and more.

On top of that, they also worked together to do an assortment of projects connected to donations for nonprofit organizations around the city – including people getting their picture taken with Dusty, or a custom postcard written by Tim, and more. So much so that when Dusty recently passed away, the Mayor of Austin named a day after him (“Dusty Danger Dog Day”) for his service to the community.

Right before Dusty passed, Tim had met a lovely woman with whom he got engaged to. The time came within a couple weeks of the wedding, and Dusty’s funeral was the morning of the wedding. A true duality of a day in sadness and happiness. But without Dusty, Tim may not have been willing to slow down from his nomad lifestyle to be open to the idea of marriage and a new partner who is changing his life yet again.

About The Guest - Timothy Braun

Timothy Braun is a Professor at St. Edwards University, where he primarily focuses on teaching playwriting and screenwriting. While he used to travel around the country as a playwright, getting his dog Dusty led him to becoming more grounded as a person and eventually staying in one place (Austin, Texas). With his furry sidekick, he learned the power of growing more stable in his routine. They even did so much nonprofit work for the local community that the Mayor of Austin named a day of the year after Dusty after he recently passed away. Dusty instilled a permanent shift in Tim’s actions and outlook, taming him in the best way possible and preparing him for the next chapter of his life, a marriage, that ended up happening right after Dusty left – but was a symbol and reminder for passing the torch to Tim’s new wife, and that his spirit will live on.

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